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Retoris Open House: Hubcap's Big Day
Retoris Nestled in the shadow of Iacon, and protected on its sides by natural defenses, the only way into Retoris in through the massive defensive structure known as The Wall, a medieval but effective enclosure punctuated by two devastating neutron cannons. Beyond the wall, the residential section of the city is making a slow comeback, as factionless Cybertronians have been provided homes in exchange for working in the city. There is even a large community of Kwarch refugees who have established their own community! Downtown Retoris is where the nightlife is, including an arts district, plenty of bars, and for public events, a beautiful town square designed as a nod to Crystal City in the hope of a future where all are one. Further back, warehouses and design spaces line the streets in the industrial section, where inventors, merchants, carpenters and engineers ply their trades and earn their keep to the tune of the humming twin power stations on either side of the main road into Iacon, the Tunnel of Retoris. ''Leading from the main gate, Rebirth Way cuts through the center of the city directly to the Tunnel of Retoris, where security picks up. Autobot security forces guard the entrance, which includes an emergency platform for Metroplex should he be needed. Below, the underground bunker housing the headquarters of the Retoris Emergency Active Response Division, the center of vast network of underground tunnels and roadways, can be found... '' For the past two days, downtown Retoris has been bustling with activity! Merchants and industry of all shapes and sizes and kinds have traveled to the city to plug their wares, network, and show support for the dream that is Retoris as a massive intergalatic commerce hub! There is shopping of all kinds, from the fashionable space hats from the moon of Kindarq, to the flea market stylings of the Junkion Junk Mart, managed by the Junkion Thrift Stir. There are also technology demonstrations from companies pitching to open factories and distribution centers in the industrial sector, from the jet engine company Birdrazor Inc, to the small minors that make the spacehats of Klindarq. In the center of town square, under a massive dent, Autobots are making last minute preperations for the keynote speech and gala celebration. But in the meantine, SHOPPING and FUN. There's also an in-progress machine shop in one corner of the heavier industry sector of Retoris, that Horsepower and Torque have been working on to give the refugees from Crystal City a place to work and get back on their feet. But for tonight Horsepower was out here, doing some last minute prepping before the big show starts up. And hoping with the prepping there won't be a big 'surprise' like there was the last time Retoris became the center of attention. Clutch helps to clean up...which mainly consists of disassembling a few ramps and half-pipe type constructs that SOME Autobots seem to have set up in one of the open spaces in the area. Once he takes down the third one he dusts off his hands and then goes to rejoin the others. Bustling along the people from all sorts of planets, mingling along and seemingly shopping just like evryone else, is... Grapple! He doesn't seem to have a shop of his own, but why should he? He builds things! In fact, he stops several times to marvel at architecture. But wait... Isn't that his signature on a plaque on the bottom of several buildings? GASP. Skids has come here with no great works to show off; as a theoretician, his workshop is--the MIND! Also, he just took the spacebridge from Earth, so he didn't bring much with him. He passes Grapple first, and instigates a conversation: "Hey there. What should I be noticing?" Blades is commenting to another Autobot who happens to be handy (or maybe just thin air; Blades does get hit on the head a lot), "All I'm saying is that this... hat... thing looks like child labour. And it's not like with us, where we don't really have children, and even if we did have children, they'd just be badass Sweep murderers fully capable of supporting themselves, like Wheelie." He throws his arms out, gesticlating. Velum is probably the most excited for the city's revival, what with plenty of her kind now taking up residence in it and now peddling wares from their homeworld. If she was frugal with whatever money she had during her stay in the EDC, it's pretty much being blown now, that pent up urge to shop now free as a bird! She already has a crate or two of Neb-brand products bound for the EDC base she works out of. Currently the woman can't help stopping at a small kiosk to peruse a rack of hats, despite her lack of fashion, some crunchy snack stick dangling between her lips as she goes about trying one on in the mirror. "Mm.. Nah." Velum mutters with a scrunch of her nose at the floppy sunhat and sticks it back before hooking a finger through the loops of her shopping bag and moving to steadily make her way closer to the center of the square. Flashdance, the ultimate 80's Transformer nods along to Blades. "I know and it's just tragic. Kids should be able to follow their dreams, not make space hats. Say Blades, want to dance with me at the gala?" Grapple perks up at Skids' voice; at least, he checks to make sure the question isn't directed at someone else first. Oh, you're talking to me? Really? Yay! "Ah, Skids! I'm just... Making certain the buildings I constructed are still in good shape." In other words, he likes to look at his own handiwork. The Femme Commander seems almost elated at this entire day so far. While she keeps a constant check on the outlying sensor stations for any Con activity, Elita One simply seems to be in good spirits. Her precious Cybertron has at least one new rebuilt city, one more scar healed over finally... Currently, she gives a cursory look over one of the tower guns she and Grapple had helped put together. Her hand runs idly over the weapon housing, as she goes over the wavelength modifications yet again. She pauses, then says absently, "Oh here I am up in the guns, waiting for the inevitable interruption. When I should be out there, reminding myself why I'm doing this." One of the gumbies startles as she speaks, "Erm, Ma'am?" Elita restrains a weak smile, "Oh it's nothing, perhaps I'm just expecting trouble when for once, there is none." The gumby guard gestures, "Well, statistically speaking, if I may, it's highly likely, whether it be a raid attempt, infiltration, trouble elsewhere, or simply a bombing run filled with dead or dying Bots. I'm sure the Cons will have their say in the matter, to put sugar in our tanks." The Femme Commander regards the comment for a moment, "Too true, I suppose. What was your name again?" The gumby raises a hand as if to scratch the back of his head, "Erm, Downturn. Ma'am..." Hubcap drifts through the crowds, apparently with no set path. He pauses now and then to examine merchants' wares. All the while absorbing everything his sensitive audio receptors can detect. So far he's reaffirmed his belief that Blades is bad for Public Relations. Under the main tent, the ultimate Autobot BUMBLEBEE is overseeing the final set up. He gives a big thumbs up to Clutch. "Thanks for helping clean up, Clutch. We always end up with a lot more parts than we needed once all of this is set up." He frowns. "Someone was supposed to bring me a copy of my big speech by now... Where could Spotlight be with that speech?" Elsewhere, Spotlight hands Hubcap a speech. "Here's your speech, sir. Good luck." A small childlike alien from the mines of Klindarq saddles up to Velum. "Excuse me, partially metal woman...why settle for a hat?" He leans in, all shifty like. "When you can buy a *space* hat?" Horsepower just happens to meander past Grapple and Skids, and walks over to stand just behind the two of them. It doesn't hinder his view any since he is just as tall as and a fair bit more bulky than Grapple is. "Artist admirin' his own work, huh?", he teases the architect playfully. Blades stares at Flashdance. He rubs the back of his helmet and finally says, "...uh, okay. To be honest, I was thinking about sneaking out early to..." ...maybe go stab some sweatshop-managers, "...do extracurricular work, but sure. I can do a dance or two." Suddenly Red Alert is uncomfortably close to Elita. "You listen to Downturn, Elita- there's a reason he's manning the WAll! He's a REALIST! Not like these wishy washy bozos and their big party!" Red leans in closer, even though it's not possible. "You hear me, this whole thing is a BIG MISTAKE!" Grapple jumps a bit as Horsepower sneaks up; how does someone so big DO that? "Ah, hello! ..." He looks as if might panic for a moment. "...Uhm, no, I never preen. Never." He forgot Horsepower's name, didn't he? "I'm merely admiring everything as a whole. A big picture. ... Yes." Flashdance winks at Blades. "Thanks for putting your plans in the corner for me, babe." She winks and runs over to her friend Synergy to tell her the good news. "It's SHOWTIME, Synergy!" "Child labor, eh?" Powerglide says from his spot next to Blades, rubbing his chin. "It would explain why some of these hats make no sense." He pulls a Transformer's sized baseball cap off a rack, it has a picture of Optimus Prime with a green and pink colour scheme and says GRIMLOCK in flaming letters. "They totally got Grimlock wrong. That's not what he looks like at all!" The minibot then spies Velum at an adjacent hat rack and descends upon her like a vast predatory bird. "Heyyyyy Velum. What's, uh.. what's up? You looking for a hat?" Powerglide pulls a red beanie off the rack and puts it on the Nebulan's head making it look like she has a little conehead. "Wow, that looks great." Hubcap's optics flicker briefly as he is handed the speech. Wait, was he supposed to know about this? Covering his surprise, he smiles smoothly at Spotlight. "Thank you." Skids sidles up next to Grapple. All alone, he has cried silent tears filled with pride, in a world made of steel with no stone. Spotlight salutes Hubcap. "It's all there. How Retoris is the future of Cybertron's relationship with the galaxy, how we have to look to the future today, all that. Also, it's completely encoded so that only you can read it. As requested." He transforms and drives away to go be Spotlight somewhere. Elita One turns her head just enough to see Red Alert. "Well think of it this way, Alert. If we forget why we're fighting, we'll forget what it means to be on alert at all." She crosses her arms, giving a bland shrug. "Retoris is doing well, I think. It wasn't that long ago that it was just ruins like everything else here. Here, we have something to protect, and....it worries me." She gestures to the city, "We've started rebuilding, and it is a symbol of rebirth here. If it falls someday..." She lets the implied morale issue fall silent. Clutch looks up, catching some of the murmurings from the crowd. Bumblebee's giving a speech? He heads over to where he can get a good view. Blades shakes his head as Flashdasnce runs off to talk to Synergy. Oookay, then. He tries to elbow Powerglide, and he growls, "Powerglide, you can't just... give these people free advertising!" Red Alert scowls at Elita. "Transformers Rebirth? Sounds terrible. TERRIBLE." He points at some Autobots. "YOU THERE! EYES ON THE SKY!" Grapple is suddenly being sidled up to by Skids. "All right, fine, I like to look at what I build." SO MUCH SHAME. "...It's just so beautiful." Oh wait, did he just overhear that Bumblebee is giving a speech? "There seems to be something happening over there..!" Yes, a distraction! Let's go to that! A giant green robowolf with robowings lands beside Grapple and company, transforming into WOLFWINGS! "Grapple!" He smiles big and shakes the builder's hand. "Haven't seen you since building started, but I've got to tell you, your work on the Wall saved my butt when the Decepticons hit us. If anyone can build a galvcannon proofed structure, it's you." He makes a face as Grapple starts talking to Skids about Bumblebee's speech halfway through his sentence. Elita One smirks, "Well don't go losing your head over it. I'm going down to go mingle a bit. Do me a favor and keep me patched in when there's any threat." She starts to step forward then stops, "Any Con threats." Again she stops, "Any inbound Con raiding parties, or infiltration teams." Satisfied with her clarification, Elita One leaps off the side of the platform, landing several stories down in a crouch. And with that...she enters the fray of Retoris. Skids offers a word of encouragement: "You should feel proud. Oh, what's going on?" He cranes his neck and follows alongside. Horsepower snickers as he pats a large hand on Grapple's shoulder. "It's plenty to be proud of all the same parnder. Just a few years ago this wouldn'a even been possible. But now here we are, not only rebuildin' part of our home, but providin' one for others that need it. Only fair with how long Earth's been 'home' fer a lot of ya." Huh, speech. Oh hey, more people. "That wall's saved plenty o' lives I bet, Wolfy." Velum slows her pace when the small alien child catches her attention before stopping, arching a brow at him and lacking the treat from her mouth, though not without stealing a bite. "Er.. Not sure what a space hat is. So sorry kid, no thanks." She turns to hurry off before the kid decides to try get any cash out of her, but then Powerglide shows up, just his voice making her stiffen up like a cat. Damn. "Oh! Uh, hey Powerglide!" She tries to put on her best smile, lifting a hand to try and ward off his offer to help with hats. "No no, that's okay I was just- Er!" The mech successfully hats her, leaving Velum to stare in the nearby and give a deep puff of a sigh and a roll of her eyes, pulling it off and setting it back. "No thanks, Powerglide. Blue's more my color." She pauses a moment, wondering how she'll get out of this, but... ah hell. "Eh. You wanna walk with me to the center square? I think your friends are gonna put something on." She smirks now, waving a hand to lead him along as she starts walking. "You can buy me icecream on the way, c'mon." Grapple is suddenly accosted by a fan! Gasp! This doesn't happen often, and it inflates the crane's ego magnificently. "I'm only glad to have helped in any way I am able." Oh, he is in Happy Land right now. Praise! Beautiful praise! "Ah! Yes, I overheard that a speech might be happening in the square...?" Skids agrees with the others: "Yes, I even heard Americon screeching, 'Mr. Grapple, Tear down this wall!'" Horsepower snorts. "Like anyone would listen to that big beaked buzzahd. Bet his own kin don't pay 'im much mind." Hubcap frowns slightly. Encrypted? That's not good, as it doesn't seem to be encrypted to /him./ Who was supposed to get this - oh, /that's/ why people keep mentioning Bumblebee... Almost absent-mindedly he runs decryption algorithms on the speech, even as he starts to formulate his own. Woah, did Velum actually suggest Powerglide go along with her? He's actually a little surprised, usually she just brushes him off and leaves him disappointed but this time is different. "Uh.. yeah! Yeah, that would be awesome. Let's go!" Good thing Powerglide brought his credit card (in Pipes' name.) "Oh hey, I saw you were gettin' hassled by some kid. I have a solution for that!" Powerglide grabs Velum by the waist and lifts her up onto his shoulders before he begins the walk towards the center square. "No one's gonna bother you up there. Besides, you get a better view of the place." It would be even better if he was taller but hey, some robots are just built short okay? It's no one's fault, just something that happens. Skids spares a glance toward Velum and Powerglide, and idly wonders whether he'll be showing off his heart-shaped diodes again. The ladies love it, right? Blades follows along after Velum and Powerglide, making a gesture of staring up at the sky. Elita One approaches the small gathering of Horsepower, Grapple and Wolfwings. In transit, she looks over Cybertronian dress. A rarity for sure, but enticing and interesting nevertheless. It certainly was easier than a new paint job, wax or magnetic coating. She eyes the fabric with a critical eye, intent on buying something, but walking away anyway. She says to nobody in particular, "Fanfare should be here for this..." Elita One finishes her approach to the small group, regarding the walls and such quietly behind them for a few moments. Searchlight, a correctly colored Spotlight, finally finds Bumblebee. "Sir before you go on you need to take a call from Earth." Bumblebee checks his spacewatch. "Ok, but we better make it quick!" They transform and drive off. Spoghtlight, the incorrectly colored Searchlight, finds Hubcap. "Ok, they're ready for the speech!" He starts dragging Hubcap to the podium. "Remember to be welcoming, and to not say words that start with 'G.' The Kwarch find that letter insulting. Good luck!" Despite the crowd, Grapple manages to notice Elita's approach. He actually waves at her, still riding the high of PRAISE. "Elita One! Haven't seen you lately!" Aww, look at him try to be social. It's adorable. Awkwardly adorable. "How have you been?" Horsepower turns his head as well when Grapple calls to the femme, grinning broadly himself. Up until recently Elita had actually been a student of sorts to him, learning the finer points of making do with what you have when it comes to supplying a war effort. " 'Lita! How goes the tinkerin' lass?" Velum is just in a seriously good mood today from being able to buy things and hang out with more Nebulans than she has in years. Powerglide pretty much strains that good mood however when she feels hands around her waist, looking ready to swing around and deck him with her robo-fist until she's lifted up. "Ack!" Velum nearly flails, going walleyed as Powerglide hoists her up onto his shoulder, of which there isn't much room given the wing. So she sits between it and his head, the clever minibot in Neb booty heaven. "Tch.. You should've warned me, I was about to punch you." Velum fumes a little, pursing her lips with slightly knitting brows while resting elbow on top of his pointy head. "But thanks.. I guess.. Oh hey, Blades!" Head idly turns about to enjoy the (slightly) higher view, spotting out the Protectobot tagging along behind them, the woman offering a wave and gesturing him to come up beside him. "Hey, been a while. You excited for.. whatever it is I guess you Bots are doing here?" Hubcap is absorbed in the decryption process, he's nearly through, when Spoghtlight grabs his arm and starts dragging, jogging the datapad with the speech out of his hand. Whoops. Once released by the over-enthusiastic trooper, he pauses, taking a moment to look himself over, making sure he doesn't metaphorically have spinach stuck in his teeth. Skids joins in the greetings. "Elita, good to see you. It's been too long. Is that a dress?" Of course it is, but he's going to mention it. Hasn't he been saying for years that they're more alike than unalike humans? Blades walks on uop aside, and he shrugs at Velum. "I dunno. This isn't really my kind of scene. But it's great. Y'know. Re-establishing normal life on Cybertron and all..." He looks a bit troubled. When the Autobots win, what then for Blades? Lights begin to dim, the Healthabots She rocknsockabilly Band stops playing. Hundreds of important politicians, MVPs, and economical powerhouses start to gather under the tent. All ready to hear Hubcap sell them on the gamble that is a future with Retoris. It could quite possibly be the single most important speech since Rodimus prematurely marked the end of the Cybertronian Wars. But only like 8 people heard that one anyway. "Girl things and things that are masculine..." Slag growls over the loudspeakers. "Me Slag welcome you visitors to Retoris. On behalf of Cybertron and Roddy Moose, me Slag want you to clap hands happily as I give you...BUMBLEBEE!" A spotlight hits Hubcap. It is bright. Powerglide is just smooth as hell, it's the only way he is able to get away with half of things he does. He grins the biggest shit-eating grin he could possibly grin but thankfully it remains hidden under his totally stylin' mouthguard. "Haha, sorry about that. Bet it's nicer up there though!" He glances over at Blades, hardly able to see him past the Nebulan bootay in his peripheral vision. "Don't worry, Blades. I'm sure you can find a couple of guys and start a fight club. You just gotta keep it on the downlow, I promise I wont say anything." Slag's voice booming over the loudspeaker catches his attention and he looks over at Hubcap, spotlight shining bright on the poor guy. "Is that Goldbug?" "Sounds like the speech is starting guys..." Though after looking towards the stage Horsepower stops, blinks a few times, then holds up a hand to keep light out of his optics as he squints. ".. Something looks off about Bumblebee." But from this distance its hard to tell that it's not Bumblebee at all! Seriously, someone needs to get Hubcap to use his flaked metallic green paintjob from G2 so we can tell them apart! Elita One responds to Horsepower first, gesturing to the outer walls, "I managed to have a hand in helping Grapple here with the tower guns. I must say it does look good, doesn't it?" She motions to Grapple, "It hasn't been that long has it? You must be enjoying yourself quite a bit, I imagine. I see all this and...well, it does the fuel pump good. Reminds me of what can yet be..." Elita One laughs softly, "Saw me shopping, did you? I didn't buy anything yet, Skids, but I suppose I may yet. If nothing else but for the festivities, of course...." Grapple perks up at the announcement; the spotlight was big, bright and pretty easy to spot. He peers at it from where he is, taking in Horsepower's words. "I do believe you're right..." He keeps peering. "How odd." Skids nods back to Elita, and then, though happy to continue the conversation, tilts his head over to where the speech is beginning. 'Armless' Luke Murray waves over at Velum as the lights go down! "Hey!" He whisper shouts. He's sporting a rather cool looking uniform, with an Autobot logo locked inside of an Atom on the chest. "Good to see you!" He glances up at Powerglide, and back to Velum. "Date?" Hubcap, completely aware that there's been some kind of miscommunication somewhere along the line, nevertheless strides towards the podium with confidence. Overlooking the whole 'mistaken identity' thing, he faces the crowd with his most sincerely charming smile. "First of all, I'd like to welcome each and every one of you to Retoris." Good start, no 'G' words. "Most people dislike long speeches, so I'll try to keep this relatively brief." Inside the nearby Retoris Emergency Active Response trailer, Bumblebee is on the phone. "Understood, Cliffjumper. Thanks for the update." And then he hears Slag's announcement. "What the..." He looks out the window, and his jaw drops. "Oh no..." Running to the door, he almost falls backwards when it doesn't give. Stuck. "Oh man, who built this trailer?!" He scowls at a small plaque at the base of the wall. 'A Grapple Design.' "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Velum offers a sympathetic smile Blades' way at his trouble look, reaching robotic arm out, which is thankfully long enough, to pat him on the shoulder. "Hey now, don't worry. I'm sure there'll be plenty of stuff for you to do one all this is over. I'm wondering what I'd do too though. Maybe go back into cybernetic engineering." She rolls her shoulders in a shrug before her attentions turn to the festivities starting, shifting atop Powerglide to urge him on faster. Away, crimson steed! Sweet, Bumblebee! But.. what? Who's that guy? "Uhh.. Isn't that Hubcap?" She corrects Powerglide, quirking a brow in confusion. "I understand humans confusing you Bots, but you too?" The only other thing that'd pull her attention away from the yellow minibot on stage would be Luke waving her way, Velum beaming and returning it. Always liked that guy. Maybe because of the those missing limbs thing they share. "Hey, Murray, good to see you too!" She loud whispers back, though eyes widen when he asks if she's on a date, to which she vehemently shakes her head and waves her hands in front of her in a 'no no no' gesture when Powerglide is look away. Heeeell no. Horsepower meanwhile trudges closer to get a better look at the stage and who's giving the speech. Darn minibots and that overly popular chassis model because of it's energy efficiency. Overhearing Blades a few steps over, he grunts, "Y'sure it ain't Tap-Out?" Blades opines, of the speaker, "I think that's Glyph. Elita One crosses her arms as she watches Hubcap, "I haven't seen Bumblebee in quite some time." She says adding to Grapple and Horsepower's confusion. "I hope he returns to active duty soon, we could use him about." Unlike Horsepower, she doesn't cover anymore ground towards the setting. Her eyes glance to the skies for a few moments, then return to Hubcap. Also in the crowd...A very important group of human industrialists. Several assistants are clustered around their CEO, taking notes on the speech. The lead assistant, looking for brownie points, speaks up. "If things go here as planned, there's no limits on our Hybrid Technology shuttle exports, ma'am!" She pauses. "Ms. Carlton-Ritz?" But Astoria Carlton-Ritz is completely distracted as she stares at Powerglide. "Tell me Lisa..." Astoria sighs. "Have you ever...loved a plane?" Grapple moves in closer as well, only a few steps behind Horsepower. He keeps on staring, because he's SO SURE that isn't Bumblebee, but who...? "It isn't Cliffjumper, is it?" A pause. "No, wait, he was red." "Oh. Right." Powerglide stares harder at Hubcap. "Eh, all the yellow ones look the same to me." Powerglide is a colour racist, apparently. Bet he can tell you who every red Autobot is though! The minibot doesn't see Velum's frantic 'no' motions to Murray so he answers the question for her. "A date? Pffffft! Yeah right! If I was takin' her out on a date I sure as hell would pick a better place than here. I mean, yeah, it's nice and everything but it's not NEARLY awesome enough for a Velum date." You know what would be awesome enough? His room. Bow chika bow wow. Bumblebee watches the speech from a window, frustrated that he's lost his moment to shine. "There's no way that they'll enjoy Hubcap's speech. Just no way..." But the crowd looks extremely invested, much to Bumblebee's dismay. "Oh no...they're being sucked in to it!" Hubcap continues. "For a long time, Cybertron's interactions with the -" not galactic, it's a g-word - "Interstellar community have been hampered by internal strife," That's a very nice way of saying 9-million year civil war. "But over the last few decades tremendous progress has been made in forging ties; political, cultural and economical. Which is why we're here today." Elita One nods softly, "The Olympics have been an asset in that regard to...this reminds me that perhaps we should explore posting a few embassies in the sector." Elita One: Ambassador, Diplomat, Terrorist... Flashdance and Synergy, who were going to be the awesome teenage liasons to the Autobots until the writers opted to go with Wheelie, find their way back to Blades. Flashdance smiles at him. "Blades, don't you think this speech is like, totally awesome?" "TOTALLY awesome," Synergy echos, and pops her gum. Oi. Velum just.. just pinches her nasal bridge while Powerglide goes on about taking her on a date. She literally has no retort, just letting the poor guy dream on. It doesn't help that neither of them know Astoria is here. Catching flack from his crazy ex is something she really doesn't want ruining this day. Horsepower just shrugs his broad shoulders finally. "Whoever it is, they seem t'be doin' a fine job." Grapple still looks on at the speech. "Seems so." He tilts his head at an impressed angle. "It's really quite a nice speech." A spot of color catches the corner of his vision; he looks to the side and spots.. THE SPACE HATS. Two seconds later, a gaudy, spotted space hat is on top of his head. It looks ridiculous. 'Armless' Luke Murray is very dense and has no idea what's going on. "Well it was good to see you, Velum! Maybe after the speech, we could talk!" If Powerglide has any idea that Astoria was here right now he would be freaking out. He hasn't seen her since that whole 'sham marriage' incident years ago. He's actually still in the process of getting a divorce from that whole flustercluck. It's hard to get someone to sign the papers when they're locked up in a mental asylum. "Do you have any idea what this speech is supposed to be about?" Powerglide asks, looking over at the woman hoisted upon his shoulder. "It makes no sense to me.." Synergy makes a face and nudges Flashdance. "Ugh, the boss is here." The 80's femme twins stare daggers at Elita One. "So bossy. "So TOTALLY bossy." Hubcap waves a hand to take in the crowd, giving himself a moment to think, he's working this on the fly, after all. "But that's all in the past, today, here and now, we look to the future. A future which we can all share in a spirit of cooperation and friendship." Hubcap adopts a calm, almost noble expression. "This city is the -" he manages to stop himself saying 'gateway' -"key to that future." He smiles again. "To sum up, friends, welcome to Retoris, welcome to Cybertron. " Skids glibly gabs on, glancing a glare at the Gynocracy's gainsayers. Blue Cross steps back to her mic. "GIVE IT UP FOR BUMBLEBEE! WE ARE THE HEALTHABOT ROCK N SOCKA BILLY BAND AND WE ARE HERE TO BE MORE THAN MEETS YOUR EYES AND STUFF! ONE TWO THREE FOUR!" The band kicks in and the party is ON as the hundreds in attendence give a roaring standing ovation for Hubcap! Grapple adds a slow, impressed clap of his own to the applause that's starting to fill the air. "Huh. I expected that to be a disaster of some sort." Then, the band starts screaming; he immediately begins to back away. "Agh, that... Noise!" Clearly not a fan. Horsepower applauds with much of the audience.. though he cringes a bit at the sudden racket from the band that passes as music. You can bet Blaster and Jazz are somewhere in the crowd dancing though. Weirdos. "Slag opens the door to the trailer he'd been leaning against. "Bumblebee! Me Slag say you do great job!" He gives Bumblebee a big thumbs up. Elita One applauds Hubcap's simple, but heartfelt speech, even without knowing of his impromptu performance, avoiding those dreaded G words as he did. However the Healthabots lack of locquaciousness certainly ended the moment on a lower note. She practically winces at Blue Cross' words, folding her arms together. She glances across the way towards...Synergy and Flashdance. They were staring at her. She returns their gaze coolly. Even in Cybertron, there are those turbocatty moments between the Femmes, and the title of Queen Bitch is always contested. She wouldn't, of course, approach them until one of them finally looked away. After that, well...who knows? "Seems like it's a welcoming speech." Velum asides to Powerglide as Hubcap nears the end, turning back to watch and offer her own clapping to the uproar of everyone else. "Great speech!" She calls with a grin, though it's likely to be drowned out. Retoris is probably the best thing to happen in a while, in her opinion. At least she doesn't have to go far to get a little slice of home now. Skids grimaces as gentian Gethsemene-glyph girl gaffes by going, "Give." Gadzooks! Blades fades into the background to dance with Flashdance and maybe also Synergy. "ILOVETHISONG BLADESCOMEDANCEWITHUS!!" Flashdance and Synergy jump up and down like...well, like teenage girl Autobots and drag him to the dance floor. "Don't let Elita One kill the night, Synergy..." Flashdance laughs as she starts doing the running in place thing from, well...from Flashdance. "Elita One doesn't have moves like THIS!" Grapple looks to Horsepower as he similarly backs away from the music. He shrugs helplessly, but seems relieved that he isn't the only one affronted by that excuse that calls itself 'music'. "That was... Different." Bumblebee makes his eay through the crowd, smiling nervously and thanking people for compliments on his 'speech.' He finally finds Hubcap. "Man, Hubcap. What a mixup, right?" He puts his hands on his hips. "Man oh man! But I tell you what, you did great. You did the Autobots proud." Over Bumblebee's shoulder, the ghosts of Ironhide, Brawn, and Prowl smile at Hubcap and give him the thumbs up. Elita One regards Synergy and her cohort for a moment, then a hint of a crooked smirk crosses her face before she turns aside, absently listening to Grapple. "The Healthabots do have their own unique tune...mayhaps in ten thousand cycles, they'll garner some skill...or weaponize their music." She shrugs, "It's a hobby." The last words added as if making an excuse for them. Grapple blinks dumbly for several seconds. "...-Weaponize- the music? Is... Is that actually possible?" Is Elita just pulling his leg or does something like that actually exist? Horsepower snorts softly. "Blaster been doin' that for years already ain't he?" Skids gauges the giddy glabrous gearmongers' general gaity and geniality: too giddy to gather the gaffe before it was gone? Griping? Grumbling? Grumpy? Or glutted of gab? Elita One looks over to Horsepower, nodding, "Well one might say Blaster uses sound itself as more of the weapon than music, but...well, I've heard of stranger things. Cons who could literally talk someone to death, just by matching their tone to one's spark and lowering the volume. It's possible." She smirks, "I was considering some sort of sonic weapon, perhaps I should digitally construct their song here and use it. I'm sure they'd trip over themselves with glee if I happened to drop Contrail with it or some such..." Grapple looks back to Horsepower. "I... Guess so. I never considered what Blaster did as 'weaponized music'. More as--" Ah, Elita made the point already. "Exactly, more like percussion used in combat." He's still wearing that stupid hat. Hubcap nods at Bumblebee. "Good to know, talk about being put on the spot. One minute I'm scanning the crowd for info, the next I'm making a speech that's transmitted across the galaxy." Skids buttonholes Elita One for a moment. "By the way, could I have a word?" Elita One regards Skids for a moment, then nods, she looks back to Grapple and Horsepower, "Pardon me for a moment." She steps aside with Skids, "Of course, Skids. What can I help you with?" Skids tries to gesture her a bit out of the way, his demeanor much more serious than before. "It has to do with your day job." He wants a little distance so the sound of the band will drown them out--see, that is good for something--but he's not too worried about the security of their own base. Grapple nods politely to Elita and Skids, even backing up to give them enough privacy for a conversation. After that, he just.. Wanders off. And starts looking at stalls. He already bought a really stupid looking hat, what else will the fashion-blind architect buy?! Elita One steps off to the side, against one of the more out of the way streets, then tilts her head after a moment, "I'm all audio, Skids. But you'll have to narrow it down a bit." She puts a hand before her mouth for a moment, regarding whatever Skids had for her. Skids offers Grapple as he sees him go, "Actually, Grapple, you've heard some of it. You can hear the rest?" Grapple stops at being called; he didn't wander far enough away for that. Though, he suddenly sports a scarf. Where did THAT come from? It's possibly the most hideous scarf that has ever been. "I suppose, if you don't want me to back out..." Ever so polite. Skids starts talking candidly. "Where to begin," he muses, hands on his hips. "I've been thinking lately about the last conversation I've had with Apocryphacius. But I've had some concerns about how Repugnus has been running your department, and I thought I'd sound them out on you." Blurr is being followed around by a crowd of fawning mechs and fems. Apparently some people don't forget their past fandoms, no matter how many millions of years ago it was. Well--Blurr had been practically the most famous mech on Cybertron, so he supposed it wasn't that ridiculous. Normally, he'd be flirting with the fembots and giving autographs out to everyone like the former celebrity he is, but today he is looking for a certain mech and thought he'd probably find him here. "Grapple?" The speedster spots the architect looking at a hideously ugly piece of cloth that was somehow supposed to be some sort of fashion accesory. "Oh, there you are--I've been looking for you. You got a breem?" he asks. Elita One nods, "Technically Jazz may be a better choice overall for any misgivings, but please continue. I've done what I can for Apocryphicus of late, but he has developed quite the persecution complex it seems..." She speaks confidentially with the two, motioning to Grapple. "You were witness to his words, when we were building up the turrets earlier." Skids shuts up around Blurr, but spares him a nod. Grapple looks back in surprise; wow, people are really talking to him today. He hasn't been this social in... A long, long time. "Blurr!" The architect looks absolutely silly. "Is something wrong?" Skids mainly, though, is nodding in agreement with Elita. "It's not as if I can't bring it up with Jazz, too." He waits a bit for Blurr and Grapple to go off and do whatever it is they're doing. Drifting around the back of Blurr's Fan Club, the quiet Headmaster seems to be following the star Autobot. The headmaster doesn't seem to have any particular purpose, but he does eye the gathering of Cybertronians, looking for something...or someone, probably a hidden Decepticon. As Blurr comes to a halt, Hardhead continues to drift back, watching the exchanges between his fellow Autobots. Hubcap makes some small talk with Bumblebee, before faint strains of something more interesting reach him. "We'd both better mingle," he says, turning away from his fellow minibot with a pat on the shoulder. "Nice speech." Now, where's the guy who mentioned Apoc? Well, the music was decent enough, though not exactly Velum's cup of tea. And the mingling crowds were starting to feel a bit tight even while atop her minibot perch who she idly chats with. But eventually she begins to grow bored of sitting around, the lure of the marketplace just a few feet away still calling. She hasn't spent all her cash yet! Plus, she never did get that icecream. "Heh, thanks for the ride, Powerglide, but I think I'm gonna go check out the stalls some more. Catch yah later." She actually wraps an arm around the bot's conehead, giving him an appreciative little hug before sliding from his shoulder and carefully weaving through the throng of Bots and larger aliens. Though one foot in particular she steps around has her stop to look up to see Hardhead, Velum suddenly looking bounds and leaps happier than she usually does. "Hardhead! Duros! Hey, where've you been, it's been forever!" Blurr actually looks kind of uncomfortable for a moment, there, which is rare. He shoos the fan club off with a wave of a servo, and they leave with their heads hanging. "Uh...no! No, nothing's wrong at all, just--ah..." he rubs the back of his neck. "Need to ask you a favor." he glances at Skids and Elita One then motions for Grapple to follow him a distance off from the group. Out of audio receptor range, that is. Well, /most/ audio receptors. Skids takes matters into his own feet for a bit by side-stepping Blurr and Grapple and giving himself a bit of room between them on the other side of Elita. "This might be trivial or obvious, but I might as well bring it up. He had a lot to say in the defense of his old buddy from way back when, as a 'Devil's advocate' of course, and in hindsight he sounded like he was already justifying it." Grapple looks absolutely gobsmacked and amazed; Blurr not only looked uncomfortable, but wanted to ask GRAPPLE for a FAVOR? Was this sme bizarro world? "I... All right...?" He follows Blurr. As a familiar voice graces Hardhead's audio receptors, the green Autobot cracks an ever so faint smile at Velum. For Hardhead, this is about as big as a smile can get. "Velum!" His voice carries an organic warmth to it, before it turns more mechanical, "Duros thought you might be here..." The warmth returns, "Uh...yeah...We have, uh, been running some long term security operations in the back worlds..." The smile grows wider, "How have you been?" Elita One 's audio receptors flicker as her communique touches on a private radio frequency. She watches Blurr and Grapple, then gives Grapple a judicious gesture to do whatever with Blurr. She also made a note of Blurr's flirting, and considers if Moonracer might be more his speed, so to speak...since Powerglide's so fickle. She waves her hand, dismissing her train of thought, returning to focus on skids. Powerglide looks disappointed when Velum hops off his shoulders but he tries to act cool. "Oh, yeah.. sure. See you around then." He crosses his arms and sulks a bit as he watches her immediately flock to Hardhead and start chatting him up. Damn Headmasters taking his women! Elita One presses Skids, "What are you talking about, Skids? Is there something I need to know?" Clutch edges away from Skids. He suddenly pretends to be interested in another part of the event. Hubcap mingles with the crowd once more, even managing to smile pleasantly at those who call him Bumblebee. Who, it would appear, most of the viewing audience now think he is. Regardless, he surruptitiously trails along after Skids and Elita, keeping his distance, but remaining in receptive range. Skids turns his hands up a bit sheepishly. "Well, if I'd put the pieces together before he left, perhaps, but we all know what he's done by now. But, as for some of the talk I've been hearing about that, about his motives--you know, it's not always about us, or even the Great War." Velum smirks, rubbing the back of her neck. Is she looking a little flustered? Shocking! But then again, with the *Masters helping the Bots it isn't often she gets to hang around them. "Am I that predictable?" She chuckles softly and lofts the bag in her hand to about waist height, "I couldn't stay away though, what with all the stuff from Nebulos being sold. I already bought a few crates of food to send back to base." She grins sheepishly, rubbing back of her neck again. "But I've been good. Mind if I get a leg up?" She asks, curious to sit up on his shoulder instead so they both don't have to keep straining their necks. Elita One frowns, "Clarify please, you're speaking about Apocryphicus, not Repugnus, yes? The latter has not much in the way of motives, I think, just...brute instinct. Anyway, I do know a few bits that Apocryphicus spoke of...I think he wanted to tell us what was going on, but had some moral quandry behind it." "Hello, Powerglide." The crowd parts. It's Astoria Carlton-Ritz. "It's been a while." Yeah, this is extremely weird. Because it hasn't happened in a very long time. Normally Blurr would be flirting with Elita One already, after having flirted with the fems in the fan club. But no, not this time. After having pulled Grapple aside, he synthesizes a sigh. "So, you like making things, right?" he asks, before continuing. "Would you like...want to make--well, flowers for me to...give to Torque? See, the humans had this holiday recently that'ssupposedto be aboutexpressionaffectionfor--" Oh, and now he's rambling again, in that 'motormouth' mode of his that he sometimes reverts to. "--er, never mind. Just...would you make 'em?" Flashdance and Synergy were on their way to flirt up Blurr when they hear his request to Grapple, stopping them both short. "UGH. Torque?!" Flashdance can't belive her aural sensors. "Yeah, AS IF." Synergy stamps her foot. "Her hands! They're so BIG!" Grapple stares at Blurr with a blank expression for a good couple of minutes. Just stares. Slowly, he blinks. "...Flowers?" A slight shake of his head. "I... Yes, I could... Make flowers. Decorative ones." A long, awkward pause. "Did you... Have a specific kind in mind...?" The warmer organic tone returns to his voice as Hardhead speaks, "Only to those you know you well, Velum." Hardhead offers to her, as he listens to her. "You have food from home?" He asks, "Need any..." He then reaches behind his own neck, and looks around slightly nervous. "Need any help preparing the feast?" He finally stammers out, before a coldness returns to his voice. "Not a problem, Velum." Mechanically, Hardhead bends to pick up Velum in order to place her on his shoulder, non-cannon side of course. "How are you adjusting to Cybertron?" He asks coldly. Powerglide turns around when he hears his name. That voice... it can't be... "Astoria!" Powerglide gasps, frozen in terror as his eyes lay upon her form. It's been so long. So sooo long. He's tried to forget about her, tried to push aside his feelings for her after all those years but...what if he still has some? What if seeing her again awakes inside the minibot. "It has been a while. I see they let you out of the asylum. Does this mean you're not crazy anymore?" Blurr looks relieved, his shoulders slumping and then he nods vigorously. "Y-yeah, yeah! Decorative, exactly! Um..." To be frank, the speedster doesn't actually know too much about flowers. "Well, you have the optic for design. Why don't you pick the type? Just, something as...asbeautifulassheis." Wait, did he just SAY that? "I mean, just something that looks great, yeah." The Healthabots have switched into a few relaxing slow songs. "Ladies and gentlebeings..." Blue Cross croons into the mic. "Here tonight, making his spoken word poetry debut... Slag." The Dinobot takes the mic. "Me Slag thank thick bodied female helicopter bot. This poem called Eat Faces." He pauses to focus. "Me Slag get angry at bad guys. Me eat their faces. Me. Eat their faces." Skids nods to Elita's question, confirming that he meant Apocryphacius. "There's a good chance that you already heard this from the horse's mouths, then. But it can't hurt to swap notes." Actually, he has nothing like intelligence training or clearance, but, hey, what's that between 'Bots? He makes a gesture with his hand and explains. "He seemed like he believed, or wanted to believe, that his new buddy just wants to go off somewhere for a while, breed and repopulate their species up to a stable level." He pauses. "And there are some ways in which that makes a lot of sense, but some other things I've seen since this all went down that he was pretty willing to gloss over." Also, Blurr either completely ignores Flashdance and Synergy, or hadn't even noticed them. That turns Skids' head for a bit. His reaction is, indeed: Slag! But at least it's even less likely anyone will be paying any attention to him. "Crazy? Me?!" Astoria scowls. "I wouldn't even have my company here if Rodimus hadn't promised you'd stay away from me. But since you're here...There's someone you. Need. To. Meet." She waves. "Over here!" A small child with a red cone hat on takes her hand and stares up at Powerglide. Grapple is still staring at Blurr as if he had grown a second head. "I... All right. When would you like the bouquet by?" He seems dumbstruck just to have this task. It's probably an appropriate response. Elita One nods softly, "He's said as much to me. I'm not exactly sure what he intends to do, and I was planning on gathering a bit more information from him before I put together a briefing. I'd rather we not go off on this half-cocked." She gestures about, "Since this is quickly becoming an intel matter, I suggest we get proper security clearance before continuing, one of those Con lens-headed sneaks could be about and we do not need that intel being leaked." Slag gets really into it, and knocks a keyboard off of the stage. "After faces get eat, Slag sometimes still mad. So me slag melt face bits with fire." A lone Kwarch watches from the floor, single tear. Skids reacts with a bit of skepticism, but defers to her judgment. "Sure, if you say so. Contact me when you've got a moment." Blurr waves a dismissive servo. "Just, whenever you find the time, Grapple. Of course, duty takes priority." he says, nodding and looking cool and not nervous any more. He smiles, genuinely appreciative. "Thanks, Grapple." Velum bites her lower lip behind a smile when Duros asks about needing help, the woman stiffling a snerk. "If you're available, sure. I can't say I'm much of a cook. Somehow lit my coffee maker on fire once..." She mutters that last part to herself with mild embarrassment before Hardhead helps her up, allowing Velum to take a seat on his broad shoulder. "Hm? Oh, pretty well, I suppose. I mean, I'm not living here, but.. it's nice whenever I visit. Funny how we pretty much have three homeworlds at this point, huh?" Velum smiles their way, never leaving either of them out despite the shared body. It's a shame how people so easily forget that fact. All the while she speaks she busies herself by digging a few Neb brand products she's come to know as favored by Duros, and sets them aside for him. "Yeah right! I'm not the crazy one! You're the crazy one! Must I remind you of the time you KIDNAPPED ME and the FORCED ME to marry you? You're lucky I didn't file a restraining order against you. I SHOULDVE!" Powerglide crosses his arms and looks as unhappy as he possibly can despite the mouthguard concealing half his face. His optics widen when Astoria hails a small child over, clad in a cone head. "I...what...who is.. is that.. is that my son?" Powerglide looks shocked. Is he really a father? Is this going to be his life now? "Hey, wait a minute! How do I even have a kid? You told me you couldn't get pregnant from kissing, you liar!" Astoria just stares. "Your son?" She stares more. "Your...Oh god. No. No! And we never kissed. We never did any of those things, you psychopath. This is my fiance Dorfflenerf. He's the CEO of Spacehats INC from the Klindarq moon." Apparently the Klindarqs all look like human children. Dorfflenerf gives Powerglide a nod. "Pleasure to meet you." Voiced by Sam Elliot. Powerglide finds himself surrounded by Klindarqians. Dorfflenerf crosses his tiny arms across his baby chest. "We're not going to have a problem here, are we Powerglide?" Pausing for a very long, awkward moment, Hardhead seems to be having an internal debate before he speaks with an organic tone, "Velum, I would love to." Hardhead's voice dips cold for a moment, "Primus..." After a brief moment, the warmer tone returns, "Uhh, yeah, I am not much of a cook, but I learned a few tricks from the farm..." Hardhead looks away from Velum for a moment, "Three home worlds..." His voice drifts off as he words echo with a mechanical tinge. "I suppose you do...I wonder, where I, we, should call home..." He shakes his head before looking back at Velum. "Cybertron is so, different..." His voice his mixed as he continues, "Where are you stationed next?" Hubcap throws Powerglide a meaningful frown, shaking his head slowly, even as he closes in on Skids. If this is important, then he needs to know. "Well, that's what I wanted to talk to Velum about, Hardhead!" It's Armless Luke Murray! He smiles sheepishly at Velum. "You're a popular girl, soldier!" He laughs like an idiot. "Hey Hardhead, remember when you broke that table over Scattershot's head?" Skids is walking away from Elita and soon passes by Hubcap, quickly tossing off a nod and a smile. Blurr waves a dismissive servo. "Just, whenever you find the time, Grapple. Of course, duty takes priority." he says, nodding and looking cool and not nervous any more. He smiles, genuinely appreciative. "Thanks." "Wait.. WHAT!?" Powerglide could've dealt with having a kid, that was easy, but having his ex-fiancee dating...nay, ENGAGED to what appears to be a little kid. A /rich/ little kid with his own company no less. "Bullshit! You made me do so many things.." He looks deeply troubled as he recalls their relationship. "So many terrible things... how dare you stand there and deny them TO MY FACE?" As Powerglide is surrounded by little kids, er.. Klindarqians, he straightens up and puffs out his chest. "Heh, yeah right! Not a problem at all. You see, I've moved on too. I'm seeing a very sexy, very intelligent Nebulan right now so ha!" Dorfflenerf gives Powerglide a big d-baggy smile. "That's fantastic, big guy. Hope you guys are doing great." He gives the minibot a big thumbs up and walks back to Astoria. "Let's get grooving, babe. I want to slow jam to this spoken word poetry." He slaps her butt and they walk to the dancefloor. A Klindarqian hands Powerglide a spacehat. "For your trouble." Blurr walks away from Grapple looking quite satisfied, glancing momentarily back at him and cringing slightly at the hat the architect is wearing, having noticed it for the first time. "The slag is he wearing that thing for?" he mutters to himself, before glancing over at Powerglide and hoping the minibot doesn't get into any trouble. But then the fan club returns and begins dogging him for autographs again. "Oh, all right, all right..." he smiles and gives a few out. Velum's smiles softens at that and she nods. "It's a date then. ..Er. you know what I mean." She quickly tries to correct herself, but hopefully he gets the idea. "And well.. I suppose the answer would be anywhere you choose. It's not like you don't have a place to go back to after all's said and done either." Velum smirks, giving the side of his head an affectionate bump of her elbow. "Still stationed on Earth, though they've been moving us around to different bases lately." She rolls her shoulders in a shrug. Murray's voice catches her ear when he comes up to greet her from way down on the ground, Velum peering over the edge of Hardhead's sholder and smiling, offering a wave. "Hey there, Murray. And hey, of course I'm popular. You know any other ladies who can drink you under the table and knock you clean off your feet?" She jests, laughing softly, though she quiets when she eyes the drink in her hand. "And er.. I'd offer you something, but I'm afraid it'd probably poison you. Mercury and all." She sends him an apologetic smile. Powerglide tries to keep up his macho charade as long as Astoria and her shrimpy fiancee are around but as soon as they leave he lets out a heavy sigh. He can feel his LED heart sink as Dorfflenerf slaps his ex-girlfriend's butt. It's such a terrible feeling, seeing her moved on while he still struggles to put his romantic life back together after their nasty break up. He /wishes/ he was dating the Nebulan he said he was, but the truth is she barely notices him. He's just too short for her, he guesses. "Man... talk about putting a damper on this whole day." Tilting his head down towards Armless Luke Murray! "Scattershot and I, sometimes express ourselves differently." He offers with a coldness. "If my processor recalls, Scattershot won that...*discussion*..." He offers while a pang a guilt seems to wash over his features, maybe guilt over abandoning his duty for so long, "I have not talked to Scattershot since *Earth*" Guilt definitely stained the word Earth. He reruns his attention back to Velum, "You can not drink me under the table...well, at least not now." He says with a grin, which his obscured through his hand reaching up and face palming. "Primus..." sounds like it escapes through his fingers. Lowering his hand, Hardhead returns to his usual dour demeanor. "Murray, I understand there are orders?" Murray shakes his head. "No orders, persay. Just some ideas to keep in the back of Velum's head." He taps the Autobot/Atom symbol on his chest. "Retoris is a multicultural community, and it's going to need multicultural solutions- and that includes emergency response. Vel, if you want a job, let me know." He gives the two a salute. "Enjoy the gala, I've got to get back to patrol!" After obliging a few more autographs for the fans, Blurr rejoins the others, noticing Powerglide looking dejected. "Hey, chin up, Powerglide. It's a great day for Retoris...what's the matter? "I just saw a woman I used to love run off with a midget!" Powerglide snaps, turning around and glaring at Blurr. "And to make things worse, I lied and told her I moved on too but I really haven't! The woman I love now has absolutely no idea! She doesn't even like me! I'M A MESS!" Powerglide throws himself at Blurr and hugs him tight, sobbing dramatically. "WHY IS LIFE SO HAAAARD?" Velum listens all the while to Hardhead and Luke speak, though can't help arching a brow when Duros pipes up, a sharp smirk etching across her lips while casting a sideways glance to him. "Is that so? That a challenge, greeny?" She teases, waggling the drink his way before stuffing it back in the bag. Regular hand lifts to comb a few strands of hair from her face as she looks back to Luke, giving pause with eyes widening a tad. "A .. A job?" She stammers out. Working here? In Retoris? Was he reading her mind or something? "I uh.. Sure! Sure, yeah I'll definitely get back to you!" She calls after when he walks off and soon beams Duros/Hardhead's way. "Ha, this is amazing! I may actually get a chance to stick around here longer. Heh, and maybe I can take you up on the challenge if they set me up with a place here." Is she inviting him over? You're damn right she is. "...." Okay, this is awkward. In fact, this is the second awkward situation Blurr has recently been thrust into. The speedster stares down at Powerglide hugging him, his optics bright with surprise. "Uh..." he pats him awkwardly on the back. "Look, Powerglide--it's okay. Just because you can't get any females to like you doesn't mean you're worthless. I mean, there aren't even very many fems around these cycles any more. It's not your fault if none of them are your type, you know, since we already have such a....limited selection..." Tilting his head to the side, Hardhead looks at Velum for a long moment. His voice his cold as he speaks, "Velum, it will be good to have your expertise at Retoris...and Duros would love to take you up on your challenge and he would also help you find a place, I believe he has some quarters down here...or /will/." Hardhead reaches up towards Velum to help her down, but you will have to excuse us, I have matters I must attend..." Like checking in with Command, and removing his AWOL status... Ah, but what about Blurr? Would he be just as upset if Torque had rebuffed his affections? Perhaps we will never know. Powerglide blubbers into Blurr's shoulder as he squeezes him tight. "Bwaaaaa, Bluurrr. You don't understand! You can't understand. You're an attractive celebrity, I'm a short little robot with a cone for a head. I'M HORRIBLE. The only one who ever liked me turned out to be a crazy bitch and now she's dating a m-.. a m-.. A MIDDDDGEETTTTT!" Powerglide sobs uncontrollably into Blurr for a few minutes before he finally pulls away and sighs. "Ugh.. life is so hard sometimes man.. sniff." Skids is still ambling through the bazaar as he comes across the Nebulans. Hoping he doesn't sound rude, he asks, "Excuse me--Velum? I heard you on the radio." Skids he's just passing by, but he'll stop for a word and a wave. Velum cants her head a little at Hardhead. Why isn't Duros saying that? Was he embarrassed? Maybe. The thought of such has her smiling and offering a nod to them. "I'd love that, thank you." But sadly their brief reunion is cut short, the woman just nodding solemnly and seeing the pair off with a wave. Now where did Murray go..? Velum tries to spy him out of the crowd, but it's pretty impossible, leading her to strike out to find him. Except someone calling her name has gaze casting up and over her shoulder to the blue mech behind her whom she blinks at a few times. "The radio..? ..Oh!" She perks in realization. "That's right, the talk show. Nice to meet you, you're uhm.." Lips purse, trying to place him. "..Skids, right?" "Er...." Blurr honestly doesn't know what to say to Powerglide. And he hates it. He really hates not knowing what to say. He is supposed to always know what to say! "Look, I'm not claiming to understand your...plight. But, yeah, life is difficult for everyone sometimes. Especially when you're in the middle of a war that's been going on for millennia. You know? Come on now. You don't need a fem on your shoulder to be important. Everyone here has a job to do, and cooperation is essential to our cause. Don't let these sorts of things distract you from what really matters, yeah?" Skids smiles down. "Hey, someone recognized me. This must be how Blurr feels." Skids parts with, "Wonder why we never bumped into each other on Earth. Thought it was a small world. Where's the Klinder Garden?" He spots Powerglide in his hat. "Oh, he looks like he'd know." "Yeah... I guess you're right." Powerglide lets out a heavy, sad sigh. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Blurr, but I'm just going to go get drunk at a bar somewhere." And with that, Powerglide disappears into the crowd. The next time anyone sees him is a week from now, passed out in a gutter.